Traveling Through Time
by rachellondondo
Summary: It's 1956, and Peggy Carter and Howard Stark grieve for Captain America. Howard reveals that he built the time machine and shows it off to Peggy. While doing so, HYDRA agents suddenly burst in, and he has no choice but to use the machine. They are brought to 2015, where they are reunited with Cap and meet the Avengers. However, they must take HYDRA down. *Not following Ultron plot
1. Unexpected Reunion

_1956._

Agent Peggy Carter walked into Howard Stark's lab, asking how he was doing. He didn't answer.

"…Howard?" Peggy called him gently.

"It's been 11 years. 11 years since… Captain Rogers disappeared into water," Howard said quietly.

Peggy did not say a thing. Of course she knew what today was. How could she forget? 11 years after his presumed death, she still loved him. She couldn't move on. There was a date he did not come to, after all. She didn't get a chance to dance with him.

"I know. I know, Howard…. I miss him," Peggy whispered.

When she first joined the army, Peggy didn't think she would meet someone to spend rest of her life with there. In fact, she didn't think she would marry someone at all. She was a bit different than the other women, whose goals were to find perfect husbands.

But then, she met Steve Rogers. He was this small guy—shorter than her even—who always tried to do the right thing, no matter what it takes. That's what turned him into Captain America. Sure, he did receive the Super Serum, but it wasn't for his kind heart, the soldier would have turned into something terrifying.

"This isn't the best time, but I have something to show you," Howard said, getting up from his chair.

That happened quite abruptly, pulling Peggy out from her memories.

"It is an invention of mine," Howard continued. "I've been working on it since the day Captain disappeared."

Howard never said he 'died.' Everyone just assumed he did. I mean, no normal person would survive the freezing temperature of the Arctic. But at the same time, Steve Rogers was no normal person.

"What is it?" Peggy asked, now more curious.

Without an answer, Howard walked further into his lab, stopping in front of a metal door. He motioned to Peggy for her to follow, and she did. She figured it must be an important invention, something he hasn't told public.

When Howard punched in the passcode for the door, it opened, and there was an elevator.

"Why do you have an elevator behind a _door_?" Peggy asked.

"Because, it's very important that no one knows about this except _me_ ," Howard answered.

"Then why are you showing this to me?"

"You deserve to know," Howard said.

They got into the elevator, and Howard punched in the passcode again. Then, he pressed the "B" button. The elevator started to go down.

"What does 'B' stand for?" Peggy asked.

"Basement," Howard answered with a shrug.

The elevator went down for several minutes then it stopped. When the doors opened, Peggy saw a huge machine standing in front of her.

"What is _this_?"

"This," Howard pointed to the machine. "is a time machine."

"TIME MACHINE? Are you out of your mind, Howard?' Peggy yelled at him.

"No, I am not. It's a prototype, but it works."

The time machine looked like a jet, almost like the one Captain put in the water 11 years ago. At first glance, it didn't look like a time machine at all, but as Peggy stepped inside the jet, she could tell it was special.

"Why does the time machine look like a jet?"

"You are asking too many questions, Peggy," Howard chuckled.

"Well, what do you expect, Howard? You created a damn time machine!"

"Guess that's fair. To answer your question, if somehow, someone broke into this place, he wouldn't know if this is the time machine. I know that wouldn't happen, but just in case."

Howard turned the machine on. It did make a loud sound, and Peggy freaked out once again.

"What are you doing, Howard?"

"I just wanted to turn it on. That's it. I never had a chance to do it before," Howard said, looking at Peggy.

But then, there was a loud explosion coming from the higher grounds.

"What was that?!"

"I don't know! Something happened up in the lab."

"Well, did you leave something unattended or something?"

Before Howard could answer, there was a loud burst, and a group of armed men came through it.

"Who the hell are they?!"

There were about 20 of them, and they all had the symbol on their left arm that Howard and Peggy knew well: a skull with six legs.

"HYDRA?!" Peggy yelled out. She couldn't believe they were still alive! She thought Steve took care of them once and for all.

"I thought they were all dead!" Howard shouted.

He quickly activated the time machine. He knew he had no choice. The men were coming toward them, and there was only one thing he can do at this moment.

"Howard! What are you doing?"

"Saving ourselves from getting killed!"

Without hesitation, Howard pressed the green button at the top of the control panel.

With a bright light and loud noise, time machine disappeared from the basement.

/

The time machine, or the jet, reappeared in some kind of basement, but this time, it looked more new, and had high technology all over it. As Peggy and Howard stepped out of the jet, they couldn't help but to be amazed by the technology the basement had.

"Wow…What is this place?" Peggy asked, looking around.

"I'm not sure…but what I know is we are in different time period and this might be the future," Howard said.

The technology and the room just looked so new and cool and this couldn't some time earlier than 1956. There was also a row of robots—it seemed—in the room.

"I hope we are not in a future HYDRA base," Peggy said.

.

Tony Stark was making a cup of coffee when JARVIS informed him something unnatural.

"Sir, there is an unknown presence in your basement."

"What happened?"

"All of a sudden, there was massive surge of energy, and some kind of machine appeared in your basement."

Tony blinked for a moment. What was this, _Back To The Future_? A machine can't just appear in a second. But then, he had A.I. that was intelligent enough to detect unnatural things around the Avengers Tower. Maybe, Tony thought, a machine appearing out of nowhere wasn't all that impossible.

"Call the rest of the team. I'm going down there right now."

"Yes, sir."

As Tony took the elevator down to the basement, Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers, and Clint Barton joined.

"I got the call. Is there something wrong?" Steve asked, holding his shield in one hand.

"Not sure. JARVIS informed me that a machine suddenly appeared out of nowhere," Tony answered.

"A _machine_? In your basement?"

Steve gave Tony a shocked look and Tony rolled his eyes.

"Come on, you know more crazy things happened in my tower."

The elevator dinged. Four of them walked out, prepared for a battle if necessary.

.

"Peggy, what do we do now? Should we stay—"

Peggy cut Howard off and immediately pulled out her gun at the door.

"Hush, Howard. Someone's coming. I hear footsteps and I believe there are several of them."

Howard stopped talking. As the glass door opened, Peggy fired the gun without hesitation.

.

When the four Avengers walked into the basement, they heard a gunfire. Steve held up his shield, blocking the bullet. He looked up slowly, and his eyes grew wide. He couldn't believe his eyes. In front of him, there were two of his old friends: Agent Peggy Carter and Howard Stark.

"…Peggy? Howard?"

As soon as Peggy saw Captain America's shield, she dropped the gun. She hasn't seen that symbol for a long time. The shield had disappeared with its owner into the ice water. She never thought she would see the shield again. What shocked her more, however, was a voice. _His_ voice. And there he was, looking shocked as she was. It was Steve Rogers, or Captain America, standing in front of her.

"Steve…?"

She called out his name, the name that she never thought would say aloud again.


	2. Apart for 70 Years

"Steve…?"

Peggy just stared at him for a moment. Steve dropped his shield and slowly walked up to her, and hugged her tightly. It's been 75 years since Steve saw Peggy—the young one. Although he was asleep for most of the time, he could feel the long gap.

"Okay, not to break the emotional moment, but would you care to explain what happened?" Tony broke the silence.

All eyes shifted to Tony. Howard raised an eyebrow at him, surprised at how he looked so much like himself. Steve let Peggy go, and turned to Tony.

"Tony. This is Agent Peggy Carter," Steve spoke. "She was…is…my friend."

In fact, Peggy was more than just a friend, but he didn't how what to call Peggy. She wasn't his girlfriend; they never went out together. They never had the chance.

"Wait, _the_ Peggy Carter? The founder director of S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Natasha asked, looking confused.

Steve nodded. Before Natasha could ask how she got here, Howard spoke up, pointing at Tony.

"Good to see you, Captain… but who is _he_? He looks so much like me."

Steve looked at Tony and sighed. He figured Peggy and Howard travelled to the future using the machine. He didn't think about the consequences they would face if Howard met Tony, face to face.

"Howard…." Steve started to speak, not sure how to break the news to him. "This…he is your son."

As Steve said those words, Howard's eyes grew wide and just stared at Tony for a few seconds.

"You…you are my son?"

"His _son_?!" Peggy exclaimed.

Tony rolled his eyes. Before Howard Stark's unexpected death on December 16, 1991, Tony did not have a close relationship with him. In fact, he never had a relationship with Howard since he was born. Sure, Howard was his biological father, but he never cared about Tony. All he cared about was his company and his new inventions.

Given Tony's memories, this reunion with young Howard Stark wasn't a very pleasant one.

"…My name is Anthony Stark. I go by Tony though."

Tony held out a hand to Howard. Howard, still not getting a grasp of the situation, shook his son's hand firmly.

"So, you are really my son, huh? I didn't think I'll ever settle down and get married. I didn't think about having a kid at all," Howard said, looking directly at Tony.

"Well, you were no different even after you got married and had me," Tony said.

"Tony."

Steve put his hand on Tony's shoulders and gave a look.

' _Don't do this.'_

"What do you mean?" Howard asked.

"Even after I was born, all you did was work. You always stayed at the company all night, never spending any of your 'precious' time either with me or my mother. You never celebrated my _birthday_ , for god sake! Instead of focusing on your family, you focused on building a hoover car, new weapons, and finding Captain America!" Tony yelled at Howard.

Howard blinked twice. He was dumbfounded by what Tony said, his future son. But before he could react to any of it, Tony stormed out of the basement.

"Tony!"

Steve called his name, but Tony did not stop. He went out the glass doors, then went up the elevator.

"JARVIS, take me to the 34th floor."

"Yes, sir."

As the elevator went up, Tony could see his reflection on the glass elevator. What he saw, however, was not his own reflection. It was his father's.

.

"…I'm sorry that happened, Howard."

Steve apologized to Howard after Tony left. He did understand how Tony felt towards Howard, but that wasn't Howard Steve knew. Back in his days, Howard was more… light-hearted and easygoing. Steve didn't know what made him change into this indifferent, neglecting father Tony talks about time to time.

"I didn't think I would be such a terrible father," Howard said.

"I never thought you would get married," Peggy said.

Her eyes moved from Howard to Clint and Natasha, who have been standing there this entire time.

"Who are they?" Peggy asked.

"They are a part of my new team. This is Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton."

Both of them stepped forward, exchanging handshakes with Peggy and Howard.

"Natasha Romanoff. I'm the Black Window."

"Clint Barton. Better known by Hawkeye though."

"Are those your aliases? Like Captain America?" Peggy asked.

Both of them nodded.

"So, how did you get here exactly, Agent Carter?" Natasha finally asked the question that has been on her mind since she first saw them.

"Well, Howard built a time machine—"

"A time machine?! How's that possible?" Steve looked at Howard with disbelief.

From his earlier times, Steve knew Howard was very intelligent and a great engineer, but he didn't think he would be able to build a _time machine_. It was 2015, and Tony has built some great technologies—including his Iron Man suits and gadgets—but even he didn't think about a time machine. It was so hard to believe that Howard was able to accomplish that back in the 1940s.

"—I know. I was quite surprised when Howard told me, like an hour ago. Anyway, he was showing his time machine around, and we suddenly heard a loud explosion," Peggy started to explain.

When Peggy paused for a moment, no one spoke. Steve looked like he had lots of questions, but he remained quiet for Peggy to finish.

"Then, suddenly a group of men—HYDRA agents—bursted into the basement. I don't know how they found us in such a short amount of time. Howard said the place was well-hidden from his lab."

Peggy glared at Howard as she said it. Howard, feeling kind of guilty, tried to explain himself.

"It was! I've been working on that project for 11 years, and no one knew about it! It's not my fault that HYDRA knew where it was," Howard cried out.

"Then, what?" Natasha asked.

"Well, the HYDRA agents started to come towards us, so Howard pressed the green button, and it brought us here," Peggy said.

"I guess we can never get rid of HYDRA," Steve said with his arms crossed.

He remembered last year, how S.H.I.E.L.D. turned out to be a full of HYDRA agents. Then, he thought about Bucky. Like Peggy thought of Steve, he thought Bucky was dead. He fell off a damn train. But no, he wasn't dead. Instead, he was alive, as one of HYDRA's soldiers. He was _the_ Winter Soldier.

"Steve, where are we? Or, should I ask, _when_ are we?" Peggy asked.

"You are in the Avengers Tower, which used to be the Stark Tower," Steve answered. "Today is... April 25th, 2015."

" _2015_?! That's like 60 years away!" Howard exclaimed, now the fact that they really came to the future sinked in.

"Well, Howard, you built a damn time machine. What did you expect?" Steve chuckled.

"If it's really 2015, how are you alive, Steve? I mean, how can you look so young?" Peggy asked.

If she was seeing him right, Steve looked exactly as handsome and young as he did in 1945. If he somehow survived the plane crash, he should look older than this. At her question, Steve smiled a bit. He was kind of waiting for Peggy to ask that question.

"…I don't remember a thing, but I was frozen in the water for 70 years. And I survived," Steve said. "My heart never stopped beating."

Peggy could assume that was possible because of the Super Soldier serum. That was the reason he couldn't get drunk.

"You do look fine for a 90-year-old man," Peggy smiled.

Steve smiled back at her. He couldn't believe Peggy was standing in front of him. He always regretted that he missed his date with Peggy. Peggy said she would teach him how to dance. That never happened.

"We'll give you guys some time to catch up," Natasha said. "Howard, follow me and Clint. We'll show you around."

Howard did not want to leave Steve, but Natasha gave a look. Howard rolled his eyes and followed Natasha and Clint out of the room. When the glass doors closed, Peggy just looked at Steve, not knowing what to say.

"…I've missed you," Steve said, looking down at Peggy.

"I've missed you, too," Peggy touched Steve gently. Steve hugged her tightly.

She was here. Peggy…his best girl was here.


	3. Time Breach

Tony went up his room with a drink. He didn't mean to take his anger on Howard. Not right away, at least. Tony knew Howard down there at the basement wasn't the same person as the one who raised Tony. Not yet, anyway. He doesn't even know he got married!

He sat down on the couch, sipping his drink. He grabbed the remote control and turned on the video.

An older Howard Stark appeared on the screen, and he started to speak about his accomplishments. About the future. Tony fixed his eyes to the screen, remembering what Howard was like.

But then, Howard in the video suddenly changed his tone.

 _"Tony, you are too young to understand this right now, so I thought I would put it on film for you. I built this for you, and some day you'll realize that it represents a whole lot more than just people's inventions. It represents my life's work. This is the key to the future. I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out. And when you do, you will change the world. What is, and always will be, my greatest creation... is_ _ **you**_ _."_

He hasn't watched the video since 2010. It hurt Tony, for him to hear those words through a video not in person. Even on the night of Howard Stark's death, he called Tony a failure. He told him he was very disappointed in him. Tony sometimes wondered if the person in the video was really Howard.

But Howard was right. Tony Stark figured it out. He invented the Iron Man. He became _the_ Iron Man.

As Tony sipped his drink, there was knock on the door.

"…Go away, Steve," Tony said.

He wasn't in the mood to talk. But the door opened, and a man walked in. It was Howard.

"Let me talk to you," Howard said, sitting beside Tony on the couch.

Tony didn't say a thing. He just grunted and looked at the paused video. Howard's eyes shifted to the screen.

"…Is that me?" Howard asked.

"Yeah, and you aren't supposed to see that," Tony said, as he was turning off the video.

"Well, I'm not supposed to be here, so what's the point?"

Howard looked at Tony. He looked so much like him. Now he knew he was his son, but there was too much resemblance there. He wasn't surprised that Tony built this entire tower and much more. He would've done the same. He was the one who built the time machine.

"…How did you find me here?" Tony asked.

"Natasha, she told me."

Tony swore he would get back on Natasha one day. She must know he does not want to be found right now. She did this on purpose.

"…I understand if you are not happy to see me. And I'm sorry for not being a family man. I don't know what kind of asshole I was in your life, or what kind of asshole I will be. I never thought I would get married, so it's not quite surprising if I didn't take care of my family. But I am not that person, not yet. And I promise you, I'll try to be a better father this time."

Howard looked at Tony hopefully. Tony wanted to refuse him, but the words did not come out. This was the second time that Howard said something nice to Tony. First time was the video. Tony couldn't help but get emotional a little, because he finally heard the words he wanted to hear when Howard was alive.

"I…I just wanted to be your son," Tony said as his voice broke.

"You are, Tony. You are. I'm proud of you," Howard said, hugging Tony.

.

"…I can't believe what I am seeing," Peggy said, as she was looking out the window.

She was on the 30th floor of the Avengers Tower, where the guest bedrooms are. She put her face on the window and took the breathtaking view in. There were tons of skyscrapers and buildings, among them the Avengers Tower being the tallest.

"Welcome to the future, Peggy," Steve said.

Down in the basement, Peggy told him that she was from 1956, where S.H.I.E.L.D. was already founded a few years back. She said millions of people attended Steve's funeral. "America's Greatest Hero," they said. As Peggy told about what happened after his "death," Steve couldn't help but feel guilty a little bit.

"It must've been difficult for you, Steve," Peggy said as she turned around from the window. "To adjust to this new world."

"There were some hard times," Steve admitted. "But most of them were good. Better technology and all that."

"I've been here for like an hour, but I can definitely agree on the technology part," Peggy said with a smile.

The elevator made a ding- sound. Both of them turned around, and Bruce Banner stepped out of the elevator with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Bruce, you missed it," Steve said.

Bruce looked up with confusion, then he saw there was a woman standing next to Steve, in the '40s clothing.

"What did I miss, Cap? And who's this? Your girlfriend?"

"No…Peggy…she is not my girlfriend," Steve said with a nervous laugh. "This is Agent Peggy Carter, the one I told about back in the '40s. Peggy, this is Dr. Bruce Banner, he's a scientist like Tony and is also known as the Hulk."

They shook hands. Bruce, thinking about what Steve just said, asked with a confused look on his face.

"If she's from the '40s, how is she _here_?"

"Howard built a damn time machine. And we were being chased by some HYDRA agents," Peggy answered instead of Steve.

"Howard… Howard Stark? He's here, too?"

Both Steve and Peggy nodded.

"I hope Tony's okay with that," Bruce said. "You know, he wasn't a very good father to Tony."

"Too late. They already had a fight," Steve told him. "It was more like Tony yelling at Howard. Howard was very surprised at how his future son reacted. But after Natasha and Clint gave him a tour, Howard went up to see Tony, so I hope things are better now."

"…They are better, Cap."

The elevator dinged again, and this time, Howard stepped out of it. Bruce couldn't take his eyes off of him, since he looked so much like Tony.

"Howard. Where's Tony?"

"He's still up there, but we are on good terms," Howard said. "Who's this?"

"Bruce Banner. Mr. Stark, it's a pleasure to meet you," Bruce held out his hand. Howard shook it.

"Wow, Cap, you have quite of a team here," Howard said.

"We call ourselves the Avengers. We've been together since 2012."

Steve said with an embarrassed laugh.

"Can't believe we're actually in the future," Peggy said.

"I can't believe I met my son," Howard said. "…And you, Captain. Never thought I would see you again alive."

There were some tears in Howard's eyes. He has spent last 11 years to find Captain America. He never thought he would come to the future, but he did find him. The time machine did its purpose.

.

ASGARD.

Heimdall was standing in front of the gate, guarding the Bifrost sword. It's been 2 years since Thor gave up the throne, but Heimdall couldn't relax. He knew, the one who was sitting on the throne right now as actually Loki, not Odin. He also knew Odin was alive down in Earth.

The reason he didn't do anything was because surprisingly, Loki turned out to be a good king after all. At least on the surface. Asgard prospered, and people were happy. Thor visited Earth a couple times between past 2 years, but he spent most of his time up here in Asgard.

"…It's peaceful, isn't it?"

Heimdall turned around. Thor, with his armor on and Mjölnir in his right hand, was walking up to him.

"Your Highness," Heimdall said.

Thor stood next to Heimdall, flipping his Mjölnir around.

"Who thought my brother could be such a great king?"

There was some sadness in his voice, and Heimdall looked at Thor.

"You would've been greater," Heimdall said.

Thor shook his head.

"I disagree. Come to think of it, I've never given Loki a chance to be good. Maybe this is his chance. I've checked on Father a couple of times. He's quite happy where he's staying, actually," Thor said with a chuckle.

"…So you are going to let him be?" Heimdall asked.

"…As long as he doesn't cause trouble to my people," Thor answered.

At that moment, Heimdall shuddered.

Thor looked at him with concern. He knew something was wrong.

"What happened? Did Loki do something?"

Heimdall shook his head.

"No, it's not your brother, Your Highness. It's something else."

.

NEW YORK.

"Guys, you have to take a look at this."

Tony walked in to the room everyone was in. Natasha and Clint joined Steve and others shortly after Howard met Bruce.

"What is it, Tony?"

Steve asked, sensing some uneasiness in his tone.

"After Dad and I talked, I was looking through history of his work. From S.H.I.E.L.D. to Stark Industries. And the thing is, I couldn't find most of the information on them. As I was watching the videos—they disappeared," Tony said.

"…But they did happen, right? You remember them?" Natasha asked.

"Yes, it's like they are being erased from history. Maybe something to do with HYDRA finding Dad in the basement."

"Howard, what exactly made you to invent the time machine? There's gotta be something," Steve asked, while looking at him.

"…I did it to bring you back, Cap," Howard said.

"Well, maybe in the past you messed it up and time machine was never created. Or, HYDRA never found out about it," Tony suggested.

As everyone was wondering why this happened, there was a loud bang behind them. When they turned around, Thor was standing there.

"Took you long enough," Tony said.

"We don't have time to talk, Stark. Earth is in danger," Thor said, walking up to them.

"…What happened?" Bruce asked, dreading to know what Thor's answer would be.

"Time Breach. We have to go back in time to fix it."


	4. Back to the Past

"Time Breach?" Steve questioned what Thor said.

"Yes, Heimdall realized there was a significant change in time. The world, universe is going to change soon enough," Thor said.

"He did see it right," Tony said. "I noticed some changes, too."

"First of all, who is this?" Howard said, pointing at Thor.

In his eyes, Thor looked like an ancient prince or something, someone who didn't belong in this time period. Howard knew he was out of time, but Thor looked way out of time.

"I could ask the same for you," Thor said. "I haven't seen you around. Did Stark found his long-lost twin while I was gone?"

There were some laughs in the room.

"He's not my twin, _Point Break_. He's my dad," Tony said, putting an emphasis on 'Point Break.'

Thor grunted at the nickname, before realizing what Tony just said.

"W-What did you say? Your _dad_?!" Thor yelled.

"Howard Stark," Howard introduced himself for like tenth time since he got here.

"Thor Odinson."

"He was a friend of mine back in World War II," Steve explained. "This is Agent Peggy Carter."

Peggy smiled at Thor, he smiled back.

"Wait a minute, how did they get here? I don't know much about World War II, but I do know your dad isn't same age as you, Stark."

"Well, he built a time machine," Natasha answered for Tony.

"Is no one going to acknowledge the fact that Thor said 'we have to go back in time to fix it'? I mean, that's some serious issue," Bruce pointed out.

"Only way to fix time breach is to go back in time," Thor said.

"You don't get to decide that," Tony argued. "I am the expert here. I'm going to figure this out."

Thor rolled his eyes at Tony. He put the hammer on the table and sat down on the couch.

"How are we going to do that anyway? It's not like—" Natasha cut herself off, because she knew the answer. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me."

If they had to go back in time to fix the breach, they would have to use the time machine again. The same brought that brought Howard and Peggy to 2015.

"Can you explain what exactly a time breach is?" Steve asked.

"Time breach is when there is a gap in time, which means a part of history or future is erased," Thor said. "Now, this could be a huge problem, because if a piece of time is gone, many, many people can be gone, too."

"…That's why some of my videos are gone missing," Tony said. "Because now, they never happened."

Tony quickly stood in front of the huge screen, and called out his A.I.'s name.

"JARVIS, pull up all the records about time travel from the year 1945 to 1956," Tony commanded.

"Yes, sir."

Soon, there were tons of documents, videos, and lab reports on the screen.

"Wait, JARVIS? I know a man named Edwin Jarvis," Howard said. "He's our family butler."

"Yes, I know, Dad," Tony said. "I was close to him when I was young. I named my A.I. system after him."

Howard looked at the screen, amazed at how technology can develop in 60 years. An artificial voice was doing everything for Tony!

"Narrow them down to those related to Howard Stark and HYDRA."

"Yes, sir."

Now there were only a few documents and videos left. Among them, there was one document titled as 'VALKYRIE.'

"That's mine," Howard pointed it out.

"You named it after the plane I was on before I went down," Steve said.

"I told you I did this for you, Cap," Howard smiled as he said it.

As Tony looked through the document, he didn't see anything out of the place. I mean, there wasn't much information on it, except for the blueprint of the machine and a summary of his work.

"I don't see anything unusual here," Tony said.

"Of course you don't," Howard said. "There's nothing unusual about it because I managed to figure most of it out in my head."

"Building a time machine is very unusual!" Peggy said.

She still couldn't believe Howard built a time machine. She never saw him working on it, even though the machine was hidden in the basement. She wondered how Howard managed to hide everything for 11 years—he didn't have much time to be alone.

"Look, we have to hurry," Thor said. "If we don't leave now, it would be too late to fix everything."

"I'm not going back to 1940s or whatever," Tony said. "I can't live without my technologies, my suits, and my popularity."

"Hey! Watch how you speak! This is my time you're talking about," Howard yelled, a bit offended.

Yes, 2015 is pretty cool and technologies are so much better, but it was fine back in the 1940s. He created Captain America and (almost) hoovering car, didn't he?

People laughed, enjoying the conversation between two Starks. No one in the room thought Tony would meet Howard again. The fact that Howard was very young just shocked everyone even more.

That was when Steve felt pain in his chest. He didn't know what was causing the pain, but it was getting worse. It was like ice pounding on his chest. He suddenly felt cold, freezing.

"Steve? Are you alright?" Peggy asked with a worried look.

"I'm f-ahhh!"

Steve was on the ground, screaming. His face turned pale, and lips were blue. It was like if he was in the ice all over again. Peggy was next to him, trying calm him down, but it was useless. Steve started to scream, as loud as he can. He wanted to stop, but he couldn't.

"He's cold! He's freezing again!" Peggy shouted, almost crying.

"JARVIS, why is this happening? What's wrong with Cap?" Tony asked.

"I believe this is because of the Time Breach, sir," JARVIS replied.

"T-there was an explosion right before we got here," Peggy said. "It must've destroyed the S.H.I.E.L.D. base."

Steve was freezing more and more, and his heartbeat was slowing down.

"Agent Carter is correct, sir," JARVIS said. "After the explosion in 1956, there was no more S.H.I.E.L.D. and only a few people survived the attack. Among them were Howard Stark and Agent Carter."

"If the organization was gone…." Natasha said.

"….They never found Cap," Tony finished her sentence.

It took almost 70 years for S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to find Captain America. They found him long after Howard Stark's death, when Nick Fury became the director of the organization. But if the organization was gone in 1956, no one would search for Captain America, which meant he would still be in the ice somewhere.

Steve shuddered with cold. He didn't know how he was still alive, but he knew he would die or at least be unconscious very soon. He wasn't sure if he could survive the cold for the second time.

"JARVIS, is there anything we can do for Cap?" Tony asked.

"Not at this moment, sir," JARVIS replied. "He is affected by the Time Breach. I do not know how to fix this exactly, though. This is beyond my capability."

"We have to go back, Tony," Bruce said. "Or else he is going to die."

Tony stared at Steve, who was shivering from the cold. He could see some ice forming around him, like when he was found the first time.

"Suit up, everyone," Tony finally said. "We are about to time travel."

Surprisingly, it only took about 5 minutes for everyone to pack and suit up, because Tony was bringing most of his technology and Iron Man suits with him. Earlier this year, Tony partnered up with Hank Pym, who created suits that could be shrunk to a size of an ant, and he got similar technologies from him that could do the same to the lab.

Thor carried Steve all the way to the time machine, and everyone else got on board. Howard and Peggy were watching the others getting ready, and they couldn't help but be surprised at the technologies and weapons they owned. They almost screamed when a robot-like person walked into the machine.

"Chill, it's just me," Tony said as he pressed his arc reactor to get rid of his suit.

"Oh my god, did you make that?" Peggy asked with surprise.

"Yes, didn't I say I was the Iron Man?" Tony said.

Howard couldn't take his eyes off of his son. He couldn't believe that he actually invented _that_. It was like a robot, but it wasn't; it was more like a suit, as Tony described it.

"You are brilliant," Howard said. "You really are my son."

Tony couldn't help but get chocked up by what Howard just said. He just complimented him, didn't he? He was starting to like this version of Howard.

"We need to go," Thor reminded them. "Captain's not looking great at all."

"When are we going?" Howard asked to the team.

"1945," Tony answered. "We need to stop you from making the time machine."

"How are we going to come home, then?" Natasha asked Tony.

"Don't worry, Agent Romanoff. We'll find something. _I'll_ find something." Tony smiled.

A bright light and loud noised filled the basement once again.


End file.
